Improvement in grain-sieves



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Grain Sieve.

No. 40.242= Patented Uct. 13, 1863.

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2 Sheets-Sheet 2. J. CAPELL.

Grain Sieve.

Patented OCI. 13, 1863'.

UNITED STATES PATENT EETCE.

JOHN CAPELL, OF DANSVILLE, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN GRAIN-SIEVES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 40,242, dated October'13, 1863.

To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN GAPELL, of Dansville, in the county ofLivingston and State of New York, have invented a new and ImprovedGrain-Sieve; and I do hereby vdeclare that the following isa full,clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, making a part of vthis specification, in which-Figure l is a vertical transverse section through my improved sieve.Fig. 2 is a plan view of the sieve ot' Fig. 1. Figs. 3, 4, 5, and aremodifications of the sieves of Figs. l and 2.

Similar letters of reference indicate corre- A spending parts in theseveral figures.

This invention relates to an improved form of sieve applicable to allkinds of separators for cleaning grain, 81e., and intended for any andall purposes where a sieve can be used.

It consists in a corrugated or waved sieve, having lines or rows ofgentle curves or eleva tions and depressions formed on its surface, incontradistinction to sieves which have abrupt ridges or verticalelevations, which form partitioned channels on their surfaces, my objectbeing to so construct a sieve that the tendency of the same, when inoperation, will be to cause the wheat or other heavy m aterial to passthrough the perforations, while the lighter substances, and also thoselonger than the perforations, pass over the sieve, and are arranged inlines parallel with the channels, and also distributed equably over theentire surface of the sieve from channel to channel, all as will behereinafter described.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use any invention,I willproceed to describe its construction and operation.

In order to obtain a perfect riddling and separation of grain, 85e.,from extraneous matters, which are mixed with it, it is necessary thatall the material be brought over the perforations through the sieve inits passage over the same, in such a condition that the heaviersubstances will pass through the sieve and the lighter be carried off.It is also necessary that these substances should be properly agit-atedor stirred up, in order to allow the lighter substances to rise to thetop, and also to prevent the sticks, straws, oats, Ste., from cloggingup the perforations and preventing the free escape of the graintherethrough.

This result has been imperfectly obtained by ribbing or formingpartitions, having vertical sides, on the upper surface of the sieve,which have parallel depressions or channels Ybetween them, through whichlatter the perforations for the escape of the good grain are made. Thiskind of screen or sieve, it will be seen, has no other advantage overthe flatsurfaee sieve than stiffness, as the material subjected to itsaction will, on falling fromthe hopper into the deep angular channels,be retained in these channels in a compacted mass until discharged atthe lower end 0f the sieve. There is, therefore, little chance for theheavier grain to be discharged from the sieve through the perforations,and an imperfect separation is the result. The channels, with theirperforations, become clogged up and overloaded, and the eleva. tions areso formed that however rapidly the sieve be shaken very little, if any,ofthe ma* terial will be distributed from one channel to another. Thespaces between the partitions are necessarily made so wide that theoats, sticks,&c., arrange themselves crosswise of the channels, andhence clog up the channels and prevent a perfect separation of thelighter from the heavier substances. v

Instead of forming right-angular channels. or depressions and verticalpartitions, which confine the substances within them, as abovedescribed, I corrugate or wave the elevated surfaces of my screen orperforated sieveplates, forming thereby a series of gentle curves orundulations, a a a a, which run in lines parallel to each other from endto end of the sieve, as shown in Figs. l and 2 of the drawings, -inwhich a a represent the hills and a. a the valleys or depressions,through which latter I make the perforations b b, extending,in thisinstance, into theinclined sides of the hills or ridges. The impuregrain or substance escaping from the hopper and falling on this form ofsieve is received in the valleys a', and by means of the shakingmovement, which is communicated to the sieve, the substances will beshaken from valley to valley and evenly distributed over the surface,and in this constant change of place the heavier substances will arrangethemselves in the bottoms of the valleys, while the lighter substancesand those which are longer than the perforations will arrange themselvesin lines parallel with and crosswise upon the hills, and so pass overthe perforations and down over the channels, and finally escape at thelowermost end or side of the sieve, allowing the good wheat or othersubstances to escape freely through the perforations in the channels.

It will be seen, by reference to the drawings, which are greatlyenlarged for the purpose of showing my invention clearly, that thesticks, straws, Sac., which are longer than the perforatious b throughthe sieve, must arrange themselves in the channels in lines parallelwith the ridges a, and in this condition slide down the sieve and bedischarged from its lower side o r tail end. The ridges or hills do notobstruct thepassage ofthe substances over them. Hence the heaviersubstances are allowed to arrange themselves in the channels in such acondition or position as will in sure the free passage and separation ofthe wheat or other substances through the perfo-l rations b. Thesubstances will be rolled from one .valley to another, and there will beno liability to clog or choke up the pert'orations, as the whole mass iskept in constant motion and transition, both laterally andlongitudinally, the lighter substances during such motion rising uponthe hills, leaving the heavier free to pass through the sieve.

Figs. 3 and 4 show a modification ot the screen of Figs. 1 and 2, theonly change being in the form of the hills and valleys, which, in thiscase, are inclined planes in combination with at or slightly curveddepressions or valleys. This screen, like the one above described, mayhave rectangular, oblong, oval, or round perforations through it for thegrain or other materials to pass through, and the operation of thisscreen is like that above described-viz., to bring or cause the foreignl substances mixed with the wheat, and the l the corrugations arearranged in steps inclining either upward, or downward, or concave, asit may be desired. In this form ot' sieve it will be seen that thesubstances pass successively from step to step in their downwardtendency or movement toward the discharg ing or tail end, ot' the sieve,while the good grain escapes through the perforations in the steppedsurfaces, leaving the sticks, oats, rc., to roll over the ledges fromstep to step. This latter form ot' sieve, however, I do not claim in thepresent application, it forming the proper subject-matter for a separatepatent.

In some instances the sieve-plates may be constructed with one halt'(more or less) ot' its waved corrug'ations running either obliquely orat right angles to those of the other. halt'.

I ain aware that a patent was granted to George Lull, April 16, 1861,for a screen for winnowing-machines, which screen is divided intochannels, the bottoms ot' which channels are plane-faced, and whichchannels arein part formed by vertical ribs7 rising' at right anglesJfrom the said plane-faced portion ot' said screen, but this l do notclaim but,

Having thus described iny invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

A grainsieve or perforated separator having a waved surface,substantially as and for the purposes herein described.

JOHN CAPELLI. \Vitnesses:

I. F. BaAY'roN,

U. R.. KERN.

